


maybe it's the way she smiled; (it was music to my ears)

by explaininfinity



Category: BLACKPINK (Band)
Genre: F/F, i'm SLEEPDEPRIVED and don't really understand english right now fun!, lisoo if you squint, so fun fact chaennie owns me, this has NOT been proofread so i apologize if it makes no sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 11:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17918141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/explaininfinity/pseuds/explaininfinity
Summary: in which concertmaster jennie kim spends way too much time staring at principal cellist park chaeyoung and not enough time paying attention to her conductoraka the chaennie orchestra!au





	maybe it's the way she smiled; (it was music to my ears)

**Author's Note:**

> forewarning: i do, in fact, play the cello, so i may be biased towards it a bit (although it is the best instrument, so who can really blame me). despite this, i don't play in a professional orchestra, so apologies if some of the details are wrong logistically. also, yes, i'm aware that the age both jennie and chaeyoung achieve principal cellist and concertmaster in this story is kinda ridiculously young, but, you know, just go with it :)
> 
>  
> 
> also, a little background knowledge and vocabulary terms for you; (if you are kinda confused about orchestra-y things):
> 
> concertmaster: the concertmaster is the first chair violinist (the person who sits closest to both the conductor and the audience). typically, they are the best violinist in an orchestra, and the leader of both the first violin section and somewhat, of the entire orchestra. they receive all violin solos by default. if violinists have any questions about anything technical, the concertmaster is who they should look to for direction other than the conductor. they are regarded as the most important position in the orchestra.
> 
> principal cellist: the principal cellist is the first chair cellist. they are also typically the best cellist in the orchestra, the leader of the cello section and receive all cello solos by default. they are also the person all cellists are to go to if they have any specialized questions.
> 
> getting these positions can be incredibly difficult and the orchestral world is a cutthroat industry, as these performers often get the most recognition and the highest salaries.

 

jennie kim prided herself on several things.

 

firstly, her unmatched ability to play the violin. as the youngest ever concertmaster of the seoul philharmonic orchestra, that much was clear. she _knew_ she was talented. it wasn't that she had lack of humility either, it was, quite literally, a fact. after picking up her first violin at 3 years old, jennie kim instantly knew that playing it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. she made it her goal to be the concertmaster of a renowned philharmonic orchestra before she could even say "philharmonic". she was light years ahead of her classmates throughout grade school, so much so that the conductor of the seoul philharmonic personally attended her final concert junior year of high school to personally request an audition. she had, of course, had aced the audition, and after several years of hard work, she established herself as the best violinist in seoul, possibly even better than their conductor, who was a legend in her time. that was the same conductor that was currently glaring at her.

 

secondly, jennie kim prided herself on her perpetually, impeccably curated wardrobe (that probably cost as much as a college education but hey, who's counting?) maybe it was pompous but she loved that, the feeling of an entire room full of people turning to look at her. she wanted all of their attention and all of their focus on her and her alone. she was a performer through and through, and she had to dress like one. well, she didn't _have_ to but she liked to. it was more a matter of dignity than anything else. if you want to achieve anything you have to dress like you already have the part, she supposed and when you're the youngest person in the room (and rather inconveniently, also the shortest) a pair of heels and suit can do wonders to your confidence.

 

finally, jennie prided herself on her self-discipline. you cannot become the best of the best by being procrastinator. balancing a principal position at a major international orchestra, an intense college course load and an attempted social life would probably drown others but not jennie kim. from a young age, she had an innate ability to focus, to control her emotions and get what needed to be finished done.

 

except for today, apparently.

 

today evidently, that ability seemed to have disappeared, overshadowed by the human sunshine also known as park chaeyoung.

 

park chaeyoung was the youngest principal cellist in their orchestra's history (and yes, she was the first chair at a younger age than jennie, not that she was counting or anything). she had come all the way from australia to almost immediately snatch the principal cellist spot, something completely unheard of in the orchestra's history,  all while not being old enough to drink or drive. not only that, but she was _talented._ even for professional musician standards, her expertise was obvious. the instinctive skill she had, the way she could craft a musical phrase into a piece of art, a story even, was something that jennie had never heard in all her years in music. that wasn't even mentioning chaeyoung's amazing voice that jennie may or may not have accidentally overheard passing by a practice room a few more times than was absolutely necessary (but that was beside the point). although jennie was no vocal expert, she knew that chaeyoung could have just as easily become a singer, with the same emotion flowing through her words as through her cello. and that wasn't even counting chaeyoung's looks. jennie wasn't blind, she knew that she was attractive but she could never compare to the blinding smile that chaeyoung gave everyone. she seemed to brighten any room she stepped into. she also genuinely cared for everyone, constantly bringing baked goods that were as sweet as her and even making their grumpiest members of the orchestra adore her.

 

not that jennie was paying attention or anything.

 

well, actually, she truly _wasn't_ paying attention at all as kim jisoo, her stand partner and best friend subtly jabbed her in the ribs.

 

"yo, jen? earth to human gucci? you in there?" she muttered. jennie snapped up, her gaze moving from across the stage to the podium, realizing that the entire orchestra, and her conductor, were glaring at her with a mixture of confusion, amusement and disdain.

 

"would you care to raise your instrument miss kim? or shall we start without you?"

 

usually, jennie was calm, cool and collected. usually, she was on top of her game, proving herself daily as one of the best and most professional violinists in the world. usually, her entire orchestra wasn't laughing (albeit good-naturedly) at her.

 

apparently, today was extremely different on all fronts.

 

_stupid feelings._

 

<<<

 

 

 

park chaeyoung was far too humble for her own good.

 

every member of her family knew it, all of her friends knew it, even chaeyoung herself probably knew it deep down somewhere. rare was the time you would hear chaeyoung compliment herself, or even accept a compliment from someone else for that matter. usually, she would deny whatever was said, instantly turning red and insisting that she wasn't pretty or she needed to practice more or she wasn't _that_ talented (which, of course, were all untrue).

 

it was worst regarding her playing. when she was young, she never had a particular liking for the cello. unlike jennie, she didn't fall in love with her instrument at first sight and instantly pick up playing it. in fact, she far preferred the guitar and singing, spending large amounts of her free time in elementary school playing those and all but ignoring her cello. when she entered middle school, however, her orchestra played a piece that required a solo for a cellist. despite not particularly liking the cello, chaeyoung was undoubtedly the most talented cellist in her orchestra, and as such, ended up with the solo. as with anything else, she practiced the piece diligently and performed it perfectly at their concert. from that point forward, her orchestra's conductor continued to choose pieces with harder and harder cello solos, forcing chaeyoung (who was both far too polite to deny him and too shy to say she didn't want to play anymore) to very rapidly improve her skills. midway through high school, she was already winning dozens of prestigious national competitions that her conductor had signed her up for, gaining her lots of recognition that she didn't want in the first place. by the end of high school, she already had offers from dozens of colleges and several symphonies throughout the world, despite her lack of professional experience. her parents, who had encouraged her from the beginning, were completely thrilled and encouraged her to go achieve her dreams.

 

that was the thing though, playing the cello in a symphony was never chaeyoung's dream.

 

park chaeyoung, for one, was incredibly shy about her ability to play. she panicked before every performance she'd ever had, even the ones back in elementary school. in fact, she internally panicked playing in front of everyone, even her friends and family. maybe it was that nervous energy that translated into passion so well, but regardless, she still felt sick to her stomach before each and every performance.

 

it wasn't that she hated music, far from it in fact. her guitar was probably her most cherished possession in life, other than her relationships with her friends and family. music had always been her solace in the darkest times of her life and her joy in the brightest times. and it wasn't that she hated the cello, of all the instruments in the orchestra, it was, by far, her favorite. but being a professional cellist was never her goal, and being the youngest ever principal cellist (and youngest overall first chair) in her orchestra's history was never her dream.

 

all she ever wanted was to make her parents, her sister and her friends proud. and when she got her first win at an orchestral competition, they were. so she kept playing, kept practicing and because of it, she kept winning.

 

park chaeyoung was a perfect storm of excessive courtesy, intense diligence and determination, far too much selflessness and innate talent that resulted in a soon to be storied career that she didn't want.

 

so, when she left high school, she accepted a position in seoul's most famous philharmonic orchestra and one of its most prestigious arts-based universities. day in and day out, she was surrounded by music, specifically cello music. it sucked. it sucked being in a completely new city, and a gigantic one at that and it sucked to have to speak constantly in a foreign language, which she was rusty at on good days and horrible on bad ones. it sucked being over 8,000 km from everyone in her life who mattered and it sucked because she couldn't go back as she was constantly bombarded with assignments for college and pieces to learn for the orchestra.

 

she was fucking miserable, and absolutely no one knew.

 

because, it wasn't like she could tell her parents that the reason she was sinking into a severe depression was to make them proud, because, being the kind people they were, they would tell her to come back. and she knew, even though they wouldn't tell her in as many words, but they would be disappointed in her. and while park chaeyoung could do many things, disappoint her parents was not one of them.

 

so there she was, pretty much daily, in a practice room in the basement of the seoul philharmonic orchestra's main concert hall, at god-knows-when in the night (or probably morning at this point) playing the same pieces over and over.

 

because she couldn't disappoint anyone and she couldn't let anyone down.

 

soon, a sign appeared in the door of the practice room, pronouncing it reserved perpetually for the foreseeable future in several languages. soon, a corner of the room developed into somewhat of a fort, with a few stuffed animals and sweatshirts serving as pillows and blankets. soon, the callouses on her fingers got used to the new and extreme schedule and stopped breaking open, leaving her no excuses to stop practicing. soon, she finished her degree and gained a principal position, leaving her more reason to practice and less reason to leave until another ungodly-hour in the morning.

 

it was ironic. most people were probably doing walks of shame for completely different reasons but there was chaeyoung, on the subway at 5 am to go back to her apartment for a few hours before 8 am rehearsals. it was probably a miracle that she's never fallen asleep _on_ her cello at this point, given how often she always seemed to be nodding off.

 

but she still showed up at rehearsal every day, 15 minutes early like always, usually with treats.

 

because she wanted to make everyone proud. even if it meant destroying herself in the process.

 

 

<<<

 

 

jennie kim wasn't an idiot and she wasn't clueless

 

(most of the time)

 

(regarding certain things)

 

she knew that chaeyoung was sleeping in a practice room in the concert hall.

 

she'd heard her, more than once when she'd also stayed behind too late. it was all too obvious given the fact that chaeyoung would often practice her solos that obviously, no one else had. jennie had even stayed behind a few times, just to figure out exactly _when_ chaeyoung was leaving. after a few instances of accidentally falling asleep while investigating, she discovered that chaeyoung was leaving at almost 5 am, which was rather terrifying.

 

"you idiot," jisoo had sighed while dropping her face into her palm after jennie ran in their living room, turning off their tv and abruptly spilling the fact that chaeyoung was sleeping in the concert hall.

 

"what?" jennie had complained, throwing a pillow from the side of the sofa that she had collapsed into at her best friend's face.

 

"you're supposed to help her, you dumbass!" jisoo had yelled while blocking the pillow from hitting her face. "you're bringing her food tomorrow," jisoo had finalized decisively, standing up and turning the tv back on.

 

"why would i do that?"

 

"because you like her jen," jisoo said, her eyebrow slightly raised, her voice monotone.

 

"i do not."

 

"sure jen," jisoo had called as she made her way to the kitchen, presumably to grab snacks to continue whatever tv show marathon she was on now.

 

"i really don't," jennie called after jisoo's retreating figure from her spot on the couch.

 

"tell me that after i become your maid-of-honor at the wedding," jisoo called, immediately closing the door to the kitchen which effectively shielded her from the pillows that jennie chucked at her.

 

 

<<<

 

 

a knock from outside resounded in the small practice room, startling chaeyoung. she swirled, her fingers stopping in the middle of the concerto she was preparing for their upcoming concert. she was met with jennie kim, leaning on the doorframe, a bag of takeout hanging from one hand, a smirk widening across her face. chaeyoung's face, in contrast, was covered in a look of confusion, as she glanced at the clock displaying the time: 3:21 am.

 

"what are you doing here?" chaeyoung questioned while turning to carefully place her cello in its case. taking the gestured as an invitation to enter the room, jennie walked in, closing the door behind her as she sat on the ground and began unpacking the bag of food.

 

"i could easily ask you the same question," jennie responded, grinning as chaeyoung spun from her now closed case with a look of confusion.

 

"you've practically been living here for the last month," jennie added, gesturing around the practice room and at the bags of snacks in a corner of the room, causing chaeyoung to blush.

 

"that's a bit of an exaggeration," chaeyoung tried, causing jennie to cock an eyebrow and point to the pile of makeshift pillows and blankets in another corner of the room.

 

"okay, maybe it's not an exaggeration but that still doesn't explain why you're here," chaeyoung admitted, passing a container of rice.

 

"when's the last time you had a dinner that wasn't from a convenience store shelf?" jennie asked in lieu of a response, handing her a cup of vegetables. when she didn't get a reply, she looked up at the sheepish expression on chaeyoung's face. in seeing that, jennie set down her chopsticks.

 

"look, i'm not here to scold you. we both know that's not my place. i am worried though, and not about your concerto. from what i heard, you're more than fine. you can't forget to take care of yourself chaeyoung," jennie noted, her tone serious but comforting. chaeyoung though, couldn't meet her gaze.

 

"and as long as you don't take care of yourself, someone has to. so we're gonna have dinner together every day until you do, on this floor if it's necessary, although i'd prefer if we found a table somewhere," jennie finished, picking up her chopsticks again and smiling softly as she grabbed a piece of chicken from chaeyoung's plate as she sat, open-mouthed and unmoving.

 

"i don't get a choice, huh?" chaeyoung asked, smiling, as soon as her brain remembered how to function.

 

"nope," jennie replied, popping the "p" and grinning at jennie who smiled right back.

 

"okay."

 

 

<<<

 

 

jennie had never really thought of herself as a self-destructive person.

 

well, at least, not until she met chaeyoung. not that the girl would ever make her do anything dangerous, if anything, her practically angelic behavior was the only thing stopping jennie from making a dozen bad decisions each day. regardless though, something about chaeyoung crumbed every wall jennie had ever had. everything she'd ever known about herself was thrown out the window the instant chaeyoung smiled.

 

their dinners together had become so common that jennie found herself back in their practice room almost every night (well, it wasn't _theirs_ in a literal sense but chaeyoung had left the sign hanging and jennie wasn't really one for sharing).

 

"what's this?" she had asked, gesturing to the food as chaeyoung unpacked her favorite takeout. this had become something of a point of contention between the two, as chaeyoung in her angelicness preferred healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables, while jennie was more of one for, well, junk foods. so compromises were made, and something like a schedule was developed, although neither of them acknowledged it's existence. chaeyoung brought (healthy) food on mondays and tuesdays and they'd eat jennie's fast food on wednesdays and thursdays. fridays, jennie would bring chaeyoung to all of her favorite food spots in her in seoul, marveling both at the amount that she was able to eat as well as the pure joy she seemed to feel when given food.

 

but it wasn't like jennie was complaining. and it's wasn't because she had a crush either, jennie had repeatedly explained to jisoo. jennie just liked hanging out with the australian girl, to which jisoo raised an eyebrow doubtfully but didn't ask again. actually though, jennie constantly found herself seeking her presence, creating excuses to be around her more often which, didn't terrify her at all in the slightest.

 

okay, maybe it scared her a lot.

 

because, while jennie kim was good at many things, feelings were not one of them.

 

she'd always thought of herself as a confident person until she'd met park chaeyoung. she was very quickly proven wrong though, as chaeyoung developed an attractive but frustrating habit of saying and doing incredibly flirty things (that she didn't seem to think were at all flirty)  whenever jennie wasn't expecting it (although, in all fairness, jennie was never really expecting it).

 

like in the middle of dinner, at chaeyoung's apartment this time, because eventually, jennie had succeeded in getting chaeyoung back into a somewhat normal and healthy sleep schedule. chaeyoung would casually wipe food of jennie's lips, then move on with her life as if jennie wasn't overheating and all her senses weren't suddenly in overdrive. she'd causally press kisses on her cheeks before leaving jennie's apartment, which never failed to conveniently make jisoo cough.

 

(jennie would then complain about jisoo's new dancer girlfriend) (to which jisoo would claim that she at least had the courage to _ask_ her girlfriend out, causing jennie to find the least valuable and most aerodynamic object nearby and launch it at her)

 

that didn't even compare to the numerous times that chaeyoung would catch her staring during rehearsals (because the great/horrible thing about crushing on the principal cellist as a concertmaster was that she was always exactly in jennie's line of vision). chaeyoung would wink or smirk and jennie would turn bright red and completely lose focus until jisoo elbowed her in the stomach. it was even worse when chaeyoung _wasn't_ purposefully doing things to tease her because when she was concentrating, chaeyoung had a habit of biting her lip and that was _far_ too much for jennie to handle at an 8 am rehearsal.

 

despite this, no amount of convincing could prove to jennie that chaeyoung actually had a crush on her back, even after jisoo and her girlfriend lisa (who apparently knew chaeyoung from college) pulled out an impressively well-organized powerpoint presentation of pictures and videos of the two of them (which was definitely at least a little creepy but jennie decidedly was _not_ complaining about the old dance practice video that lisa had added to prove how they knew each other, because, um, wow)

 

yeah, so maybe jennie was a little bit of an idiot in the whole feelings department, because, wow, it took a _long_ time for her to realize shit. even after countless dinners together (which she refused to call dates), she still didn't believe chaeyoung had feelings for her, despite it being painfully obvious to everyone else.

 

"have you ever thought about doing something else? not being a violinist, i mean," chaeyoung asked during one of their non-date-dates as jisoo called them (because "if you're cooking her favorite food for her, in her kitchen, while she's back hugging you, it's a date" which jennie promptly ignored) while picking at the chicken on her plate that was mostly untouched. jennie set her chopsticks down, sensing the seriousness in chaeyoung's tone and sincerely contemplating the answer.

 

because, while jennie kim might have not been particularly good with feelings, you can be damn sure she tried her hardest when it came to chaeyoung.

 

"not really. from the first minute i picked up a violin, i knew that was what i wanted for the rest of my life," she answered with as much honesty as she could muster.

 

"how old were you?" chaeyoung's voice as still small and she was still staring down at the dinner jennie had made for them, breaking her own rule of only fast food on wednesdays in an effort to eat slightly healthier (or to make something chaeyoung would like better)

 

"three. the violin was tiny and i could still barely reach across the fingerboard but i loved it instantly," jennie laughed, causing a small smile to appear across chaeyoung's face.

 

"i bet three-year-old jennie was cute," she supposed, making a curious face and pretending to stroke her chin, effectively relaxing.

 

"are you insinuating that current jennie isn't cute?" jennie questioned sarcastically, her eyebrow raising challengingly, yet not matching the widening grin across her face.

 

"i mean, current jennie is still pretty tiny and plays a tiny instrument-" chaeyoung started, only to be cut off.

 

"i play a full-sized violin, excuse me!" an affronted jennie had claimed, her shock causing chaeyoung to laugh.

 

"jen, you're talking to someone who's 167 cm and plays a full-sized _cello_ ," chaeyoung teased, her eyes sparkling.

 

"you're just- australian!" jennie had huffed while gesturing as if that helped prove her point (it didn't).

 

"what does that have to do with anything?" chaeyoung had questioned incredulously, the smile never leaving her eyes.

 

"i don't know! you don't count, your legs are abnormally long or whatever! it's probably the surfing," jennie had finished decisively, her eyes squinted and her pointer finger extended as if she had just solved some sort of mystery (she hadn't)

 

"i'm actually really bad at surfing," chaeyoung had countered calmly, leaning back in her chair, all too amused by jennie's antics

 

"isn't that like, a national crime? shouldn't you be in some aussie jail that's guarded by kangaroos right now?" jennie teased, utilizing her turn to sit back in her chair

 

"shut up," chaeyoung defended while scrunching her nose, making them both laugh. they quieted and continued eating, enjoying each other's company in comfortable silence until jennie remember chaeyoung's initial question.

 

"did you ever want to anything else?" she asked, in between bites of food.

 

"yeah. pretty much every day," chaeyoung answered immediately.

 

"wait, what?" jennie questioned, the piece of chicken that was going towards her mouth stopping mid-air, her eyebrows knit in confusion.

 

"i never really wanted to be a cellist," she shrugged. "i was just pretty good at it so, i kinda became one by accident," chaeyoung revealved, her nonchalance obvious. jennie set her chopsticks on the table with a clang, folding her arms over her chest and sitting back again, affronted, causing chaeyoung to giggle slightly.

 

"you're telling me that you became the principal cellist of korea's most renowned orchestra by _accident_?" jennie added, incredulous, somehow sitting back even farther in her chair with her eyebrows raised again.

 

"well, not really by _accident_ but yeah, kinda?" chaeyoung tried to explain modestly, her voice very quickly dying down and her cheeks tinting pink.

 

"park chaeyoung, you are something else," jennie finished, shaking her head and grabbing her chopsticks.

 

"thank you," chaeyoung smiled while tilting her chin upwards and making jennie smile.

 

"so what would you be? if you could be anything in the world, i mean," jennie asked in between bites of food..

 

"an art teacher," chaeyoung replied matter-of-factly.

 

"are you serious? an art teacher? out of all the jobs in the world, you'd want to teach art?" jennie laughed incredulously.

 

"yeah. well, i like working with kids and i like drawing so," chaeyoung trailed off, looking down shyly. jennie looked up at that, a thousand ideas flying across her mind.

 

"you know, i help out at my old school's orchestra sometimes and my teacher would love to have you come in sometime if you wanted to. i mean. i know it's not drawing art and you can't actually teach there without a degree, which i'm sure you could get because, you're like, a genius and like, kinda really pretty- not that i'm insinuating that you would use your beauty to get a degree, and it's kinda irrelevant but i just  notice that about you a lot -and even though it would kinda suck not having you around all the time and you kinda put a lot of work into this whole cellist thing, i'd still just want you to be happy doing something you love and-"

 

chaeyoung cut off jennie's rambling by reaching herself across the table and meeting jennie's lips with a soft kiss, causing jennie to quickly shut up and flush bright red.

 

"that sounds perfect. thank you," chaeyoung said, a soft smile on her face as she took jennie's hand across the table.

 

 

 

maybe that was the other thing jennie kim prided herself on.

 

maybe she was kinda clueless when it came to feelings sometimes (most of the time, really) and maybe she cared too much about her clothes and liked junk food more than she should but she knew how to be there for her people when it mattered.

 

and at this point, she's proud to call chaeyoung one of her people. 

 

as for the rest of the feelings thing, she's working on it.

 

but one thing jennie knows for sure is that she definitely has feelings for park chaeyoung.

 

and, at this point, she's also pretty sure chaeyoung has feelings back.

 

 

 

and being clueless about what to do when chaeyoung teased her from across the orchestra (which got severely worse when they were _actually_ dating because chaeyoung suddenly knew exactly what to do to get jennie worked up without being too obvious which was- frustrating, to say the least) or not knowing how to ask her on a real date (which ended up being just like all the other dates that they'd had) or how to tell their orchestra they were together (who, for the most part, either didn't care or had already known because maybe they weren't that subtle) paled in comparison to the smile she'd see every morning.

 

 

 

maybe jennie kim's an idiot.

 

 

 

that's okay.

  
she's got quite possibly the most impressive part-time principal cellist of the seoul philharmonic orchestra, part-time volunteer art teacher girlfriend _(girlfriend!)_ in the world.


End file.
